Commonwealth
countries, especially those that are small island developing states (SIDS)
like Jamaica must lead in the development of strategies for adaptation to
Global Climate Change (GCC). This was the main message brought out by the
Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, Dr. Mark Collins at the National
Climate Change Forum for Civil Society on November 8 and 9, 2007.

The forum was the first of
its kind in Jamaica and, combined with the Public Lecture on Climate Change,
the fora drew participation from over 200 persons including ministers of
government, distinguished scholars, top level government technocrats,
influential donor agency representatives, NGO and CBO representatives and
members of the general public; some of who made significant presentations in
providing the facts for action. The forum, titled “Getting the facts so we
can act!” was put on by the National Environmental Education Committee (NEEC)
and the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ) with funding from the
Commonwealth Foundation.

The main aim of the forum was
to provide valuable information about GCC, facilitate dialogue and provide
an opportunity for civil society to become apart of the national machinery
that must develop strategies for mitigation and adaptation to Climate
Change. A draft framework for action was developed and is being fine tuned
to be presented to relevant authority.

Climate Change is not a
theory but a reality. Various models developed by the Inter-governmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have assessed different possible scenarios
and one thing is certain; warming is taking place as a result of exponential
increase of human induced carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; the results –
sea level rise is a given, vector born diseases will increase because
temperature rise will facilitate parasitic development, corals reefs will
dye from bleaching. Impacts will affect fresh water resources, biodiversity,
human settlement and food security. These inevitable impacts will have
effects on the economies of SIDS. Many of these points were brought out by
Professor Chen in his keynote address at the forum. Professor Chen is also a
member of the IPCC who along with other members of the panel, shares the
2007 Nobel Prize with Al Gore. Professor Chen noted that while Jamaica’s
footprint is faint as a contributor to carbon emissions and global warming,
GCC will affect the island in a great way. He cautioned us (Jamaica) to be
aware of the ‘delicate’ threshold and ‘tipping’ points that can cause
irreversible damage.

Mrs. Emanuel from PIOJ
alluded to the findings by pointing out that climate change is a cross
cutting planning issue and noted that issues and ideas brought out in the
forum must be presented to the National 2030 Plan task force team. This is
especially in light of the vulnerability of sectors like tourism, the
fastest growing industry that incidentally operates entirely along the
coastal zone. The issue of tourism and climate change is like a “double
edged sword with backward and forward linkages. This serious implication was
brought out by Karen Ford Warner who heads the TPDCO and has the challenge
of finding the right balance between sustainable tourism as is described in
the Tourism Master Plan such as seeking alternative markets, diversifying
the tourism product to support more ecologically and greener tourism while
providing for the ‘Mega’ sized tourist resorts that require large labour
force and far more technological resources that ironically contribute to GCC.

Civil society is concerned
that the gaps that exist between ‘plans and policy’ and implementation are
too wide. Human settlements and ‘tourism development’ continue to abound in
flood prone areas and ecologically vulnerable areas such as wetlands. They
voiced their opinions in the question and answer period and the above
mentioned issue was one of common concerns among many of the attendees.

Other presenters contributed
information about GCC and its impacts on health, biodiversity, coastline,
human settlement and the built environment. It was Dr. Michael Witter
however who gave a comprehensive overview of the scenario and stressed that
sustainable development must be integral to adaptation.

A sample of one communication
strategy, a theme song for climate change “I don’t wanna wash away”
was performed live at the forum. The song was written by Marolyn Lucy
Gentles in response to the need to get information about climate change to
ordinary Jamaicans.

Climate Change is no longer a
fiction about The Day After Tomorrow but is actually here today. We
need to get the facts so we can act!